A new CNBC survery has found that a majority of Americans approve of President Donald Trump's handling of the economy for the first time.
Trump’s economic approval rating surged 6 points to 51 percent, according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey.
Fifty-four percent say the economy is good or excellent, the highest recorded by CNBC in the 10 years of the survey.
The recent headlines on immigration have not hurt his ratings, according to the survey.
The poll of 800 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, was conducted June 16 thru 19 while the controversy over the separation of children from their parents dominated the news, CNBC explained.
But any impact on the president’s approval rating is difficult to find in the data. "A comparison of the polling conducted Saturday and Sunday with Monday and Tuesday, when the story was more prominent, shows little difference despite considerable public outrage," CNBC reported.
“People are so locked in to their partisan views that it’s really hard to move those approval numbers,’’ said Micah Roberts with Public Opinion Strategies, the Republican pollster for CNBC. “The most consistent thing about his presidency is how much people who love him, love him and how much the people who hate him, hate him.”
To be sure, Trump's negotiating tactics may be fraying investor nervess.
Fidelity International and Thomas Miller Investments Ltd. have cut their equity holdings amid growing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Declines in global shares have accelerated as Trump threatened tariffs on European cars and another $200 billion of Chinese goods, in addition to levies set to take effect, Bloomberg reported.
“It may well be that everyone eventually comes to their senses and the rhetoric comes down a bit, but as investors we have to work on the basis of probability,” said Abi Oladimeji, chief investment officer at Thomas Miller, which has cut stocks and boosted holdings in cash and alternative assets recently. “Miscalculations can happen. In that scenario it’s hard to see how anything that approaches a full-blown trade war will not be damaging for economic prospects.”
The outbreak of a trade war -- a worst-case scenario still seen as unlikely -- would roil global markets. After decades under a free-trade regime, even the most veteran investors have little experience in dealing with the fallout from protectionism. China and the European Union warned that unilateral trade barriers could push the world into a recession.
Meanwhile, Newsmax Finance Insider George Mentz warns that America's own central bank could be undermining all the economic strength Trump has built.
"My wish here is for the Federal Reserve to take a few years off. I would also want Congress to keep federal taxes low and the president to keep regulations fair," Mentz recently wrote.
"In the end, we must have a smart government. If we don’t, you end up with all of the rich people and rich companies moving their money and investments elsewhere. In contrast, if you have strong policies, you can recruit and retain excellent people, jobs, businesses and investment from around the world while mitigating unfair trade."
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).
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